DECEMBER 4
The Slow Food Show at New Amsterdam Market “will feature a select number of start-ups and is open to the public at no charge.”

DECEMBER 6–30
R 20th Century presents “The Objects Show.” See photo for explanation.

DECEMBER 8–29
“One Art Space presents ‘Holiday Art Show,’ a group exhibition by nine artists from different generations and origins with a variation of subjects and media. All artworks will be under $1,000 and part of the profit will be donated to a local homeless charity.”

DECEMBER 11
“The Second Israeli-Russian Film Festival is starting with all-day program on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at Tribeca Film Center, 375 Greenwich. Reception will follow at the Anne Frank Center USA.”

DECEMBER 16
Tin Pan plays the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center: “Drawing from elements of jazz, blues, country, and rock, Tin Pan produces a sound that encompasses the full spectrum of American Roots-style music. The intention of its style is pure and simple: to be enjoyed and to make people dance.”

DECEMBER 16–17
Poets House‘s winter book sale: ‘Come enjoy some cider and peruse a selection of duplicates for sale in the Stanley Kunitz Conference Room on the 2nd floor during our normal hours. All proceeds benefit the library.”

DECEMBER 16–JANUARY 28
“FB Gallery is pleased to present ‘Metropole Remix,’ the first exhibition by Brazilian artist Alê Souto [left] in New York. ‘Metropole Remix’ recreates an imaginary city inspired by the book Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. The exhibition consist of a mural encompassing the whole first floor of the gallery, four big scale canvases, 10 original prints, a series of drawings (Suburbio remix), and three site specific installations. Alê Souto’s metropolis raises issues which are common of any great world city: Loneliness, mobility, social divide and how technology impacts the urban and human landscape.”

DECEMBER 17
Scott Weiland has a Christmas album (!) and he’ll be playing it at City Winery.

JANUARY 1
Grayson Hugh will be playing a concert at V Café (a.k.a. Viet Café): “Here is a rare opportunity to hear internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Grayson Hugh and singer Polly Messer perform some of Grayson’s new songs from his new release “An American Record” and his past hits in an intimate, acoustic setting.”

JANUARY 4–FEBRUARY 4
Soho Photo is pleased to announce that January’s guest exhibitor will be Gao Yuan, a Chinese-born artist who will present three bodies of work—’Grafitti,’ ‘Twelve Moons’ and ‘Chinese Gangster’ under the umbrella title, ‘Un(Re)Marked.’ Yuan says: ‘I like to use photography to probe and search the surface of appearances. The first and most fundamental territory that we inhabit is the territory of our own body. The way we adorn it is emblematic of personal and social identity. Patterning the surface of our body serves a dual function of both obscuring and proclaiming, masking vulnerable identity and marking individual status. There is also a contradiction in the act of tattooing as it asserts difference but also shows the willingness to subsume one’s individual identity within a sub-group.’” Also: Member exhibits by Sandy Carrion, Lois Youmans, Sandi Daniel, and Rosalie Frost.

JANUARY 9, 16, 23, AND 30, AND FEBRUARY 6
Steve Earle plays City Winery with Alison Moorer (“and friends”).

••• In other Worth Street news, RBC NYC is having a contest to determine what RBC stands for. “No one knows!” says the sign. Actually, I know, but you won’t believe me if I tell you.

••• Poets House is having a sleepover. For real! “We invite our Members to an unforgettable overnight experience of dreaming, reading and writing ‘poetry of the night.’ Join us after hours at Poets House for poetry, discussion, and sleeping among the books of your favorite poets in our darkened stacks. Poet Kristin Prevallet will lead our group of dreamers through a poetic hypnotic induction prompting poetic dreams and inspiration. In the morning, our guests will be encouraged to write and share what surfaces.”

••• NYC Dads Group is partnering with Tribeca Parenting to launch a series of New Dad Boot Camps. The Tribeca Boot Camp will be held on Saturday, November 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Tribeca Parenting. “It’s an opportunity for expectant and new dads to connect with veteran dads (and their babies) for a frank discussion on the experience of becoming a father. We’ll talk about the opportunities and rewards of personally caring for our children as dads demonstrate holding, burping, changing, swaddling, and comforting crying babies.”

••• Long-time-coming Water Street restaurant SamSara opens tonight. (It’s next to Bridge Café.)

••• “If you co-name it, they will come. That’s what electronics giant J&R Music and Computer World is hoping will happen on Park Row, between Beekman and Ann streets in lower Manhattan, which the retailer wants the city to co-name J&R Way to boost sales and keep its business afloat. ‘Six hundred jobs are dependent on this,’ store spokesman Abe Brown last week told a Community Board 1 committee, apparently without bursting into giggles.” The committee rejected it, but J&R will try its luck with the City Council anyway. (New York Post)

••• Broadsheet Daily check in with Poets House (its annual showcase opens this week) and Friends of Bogardus Garden (which has begun hosting events, sponsored by local businesses).

••• “On a micro-level, though, local gyms have long hoped that the passage of a bill [allowing mixed martial arts in New York] could bolster their bottom lines. Peggy Chau, who operates Fighthouse in Tribeca [inside Tribeca Health & Fitness], says legalization would create a ‘domino effect.’ An event at Madison Square Garden would draw increased attention to the U.F.C., she says, which would lead to greater interest in mixed martial arts classes at all levels.” (New York Times)

••• Terroir is opening an outpost in Murray Hill, which either means Murray Hill is sort or cool or…. (Grub Street)

••• “Three thousand flags bearing the names of 9/11 victims will go on display in Battery Park this September. Called the NYC Memorial Field, the five-day project aims to give all New Yorkers who lived through the events of 9/11 a public place to gather and pay respects to those who were killed that day, during the 10th anniversary.” (DNAinfo)

Monday
Poets House’s annual Poetry Walk benefit across the Brooklyn Bridge; Bill Murray often participates. ••• A Matter of Taste, the documentary about Corton chef Paul Liebrandt, airs on HBO at  p.m. The film is about an hour and entertaining.

Tuesday
Denitia Odigie plays the Bubble Lounge: “Born and raised outside of Houston, Texas, Denitia’s earliest musical memories juxtapose classic country and 60s era soul on her memory’s mixtape.”

Wednesday
The new comedy Loveless, set in Soho, screens at 92YTribeca. ••• Also at 92YTribeca: “Fisticuffs,” which is described as “Iron Chef” for cartoonists. Left: A photo from the Fisticuffs blog. ••• Greg Laswell plays City Winery.

Thursday
Alan Rudolph’s Remember My Name screens at 92YTribeca, followed by Trouble in Mind. ••• Jazz vocalist Elli Fordyce is at Jerry’s Café.

Friday
Jennifer Grant discusses her father, Cary Grant, at 92YTribeca. ••• Later at 92YTribeca, Kindergarten Cop and Conan the Barbarian are screened.

Saturday
The ARChive of Contemporary Music’s Surfin’ Summer Record & CD sale; through June 26. ••• Radio Happy Hour at City Winery: “An afternoon of old-time radio comedy/drama with special guests Sun Airway, Hank & Cupcakes, and more.” ••• Hype Williams’s Belly and The Cure in Orange, a concert film, screen at 92YTribeca. Williams didn’t direct the Cure film but I’m too lazy to rewrite it so that’s clear.

Sunday
Father’s Day! Gift suggestions here. ••• Fulton Stall Market and New Amsterdam Market. ••• Bang on a Can Marathon at the World Financial Center Winter Garden.

As for ongoing events, you might consider…
Art.Write.Now.’s 2011 awards exhibition is at the World Financial Center’s Courtyard Gallery. This isn’t your average teenage art show. Below: Deconstructive Theater by budding architect Claire Hathaway, age 13. More examples here.

Tribeca Treats‘ Rachel Thebault is doing a demo on “How to Ice a Birthday Cake” at 1:15 p.m. on the Jay Street Stage. Afterward, she’ll be signing cookbooks at the bakery’s booth, and the first 10 people to buy the cookbook will get a slice of the cake for free.

Poets House is making a couple of typewriters available like we do in our children’s room, which kids really love, and we’ll be handing out little bird books and haiku pencils for kids to write their own poems about spring.

Bubby’s will have a booth featuring our heritage-raised pulled pork, BBQ brisket, sour cherry pie, and pink and watermelon lemonade. Our cow will also be there for great photo ops!

eXerBlast and blogger Mommy Poppins are hosting a trial eXerBlast Adventure: Score Xi energy points on the BlasterPath or chill out and relax in our BlastDown Zone. If you collect enough Xi energy you will be eligible to win a free trip to Universal Studios, Florida, or one of 50 free TrialBlast Adventures at the eXerBlast Center, opening in Tribeca in May. Participants will also receive a tour of the new eXerBlast facility at 100 Reade.

Taste of Tribeca is selling Taste of Tribeca T-shirts (new styles as well as classics, for $20) and tickets to the event, including Taste of Tribeca general taste ticket ($35 early bird); special VIP cocktail party package ($75 (includes day of taste ticket); and premium market seats ($175) and private tables ($950).

Friends of Hudson River Park will be getting the word out about how the community can get involved in the park and the new section at Pier 25 that opened at the end of last year. We’ll have a face-painter for the kids and staff and volunteers on hand to answer questions about the park and pass out information and drink bottles.

BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center is partnering with Canis Minor—our Family Shows next season feature so many animals it’s a perfect fit! We’ll have face painting and doggy treats, and we’ll raffle off some tickets. We’ll announce our Family shows—and the discounts that are available to 10Club members.

Stuzzicheria chef Ron Suhanosky will be serving veal-and-ricotta meatballs in tomato sauce ($5) and caramel popcorn with guanciale ($2). We’ll also be raffling off a $150 gift card so stop by and drop in a business card!

92YTribeca‘s booth will let kids decorate their own BYOK (Bring Your Own Kid—our Sunday-morning kiddie music program) canvas drawstring bag with colored fabric markers.

Grandaisy Bakery is bringing our store out into the street so people can enjoy our products al fresco. We’ll be getting fresh Roman-style pizza from our bakery at Tribeca throughout the day. We will also have breakfast as well as dessert pastries. We’ll also have some of our fresh bread that people can pick up and take home with them.

Balloon Saloon will be making kids’ and adults’ days alike even more fun with a variety of irresistible goodies including: amazing life-size Spiderman floaties, bubbles, balloons shaped like everyone’s favorite cartoon characters, beach buckets, and much more! Additionally, we will be distributing thousands of balloons for Broadway sensation “The Millionaire Dollar Quartet” and neighborhood association Ace.

Downtown Dance Factory dancers will be on the main stage at Greenwich & N. Moore at 10:45 a.m. And visit us at our booth too—we’ve got free raffles and fun crafts.

“We didn’t have any downtown friends or roots in the neighborhood,” says Tory Weil about moving from the Upper West Side in 2007. That changed when she was approached about joining the Friends of Bogardus Garden—and now she’s the president of the board. When the St. Louis native isn’t working on new initiatives such as the Bogardus Plaza, she sings professionally (she’s a mezzo-soprano who has performed at the Santa Fe Opera, among many other venues) and takes care of her two kids, Fiona (pictured) and Arlo. Right now, she’s particularly excited about two Bogardus Garden events. Sunday, Apr. 17, will bring Jazz and Poetry on the Plaza with the Alex Levin Trio and Emefe and an assist from Poets House; and Saturday, May 7, is May Day. “It’s our biggest event of the year,” says Weil. Bogardus Garden and Plaza will have live music and kids’ activities (including crafts with Playgarden and sugar-cookie decorating). “Now that we have the additional space provided by the plaza, it will be the best one yet!”

How long have you lived in the area?
I have lived in the area for nearly four years.

Which restaurants do you frequent most often?
I cook most of the time, which became extra fun once Whole Foods opened. As for eating out, we go through phases with the local restaurants. We have frequented Centrico, Marc Forgione (particulary great on a Sunday night for its amazing prix fixe), The Harrison, and, most recently, we’ve been hitting Tamarind (left).

Which restaurants do you tend to go to for a special occasion?
For special occasions we have gone to Bouley—one of the most stunning restaurants around. Megu is pricey but fun and delicious. My husband often retreats to Warren 77 to watch sports “with the guys” and swears by the bar food.

Where do you order in (or get take-out) from? Are there dishes you always order?
We order in from Muscle Maker Grill and just had our first delivery from Yorganic. It was fast, healthy, and yummy. For the never-ending “where can we get decent Chinese food delivered” dilemma, we have settled on Sammy’s. If you have any better ideas, do tell!

Which shops do you find it hard to resist popping into when you pass by?
I live around the corner from Petticoat Lane (right) and I love that it has a little bit of everything, from bathing suits to bras to jewelry. Jennifer, the owner, is an amazing saleswoman and can fit anybody! I also love to poke around Stella and pretend that one day I will properly set a table with a tablecloth and cloth place mats.

What was the last non-essential item you bought in Tribeca?
An itsy-bitsy-teeny-weenie white-and-black polka dot bikini from Petticoat Lane. I went in to buy a one-piece suit that would be appropriate for family swim at the Downtown Community Center. Oh, well….

Are there any services (salon, fitness, etc.) that you’re particularly glad are in the neighborhood?
I’m thankful for New York Sports Club on Reade Street. I’m there almost every day and although it’s not flashy or sexy, it has what I need and, unlike Equinox, you get to have your own TV on the cardio equipment and now you can plug your iPod/iPhone right into your personal screen to watch/listen to your downloaded shows and music.

What’s the area’s best-kept secret?
The area’s best-kept secret is Goodie Girl Cafe, in the lobby of JCP at 146 Duane. Shira Berk whips up fabulous vegetarian soups, sandwiches, and salads. She also makes delicious muffins, biscotti, and other treats. Her chocolate-chip cookies are crazy good and she just started to make a fabulous gluten-free version. Yum, yum, yum! And today I discovered the Poets House just across the highway. They have an amazing new facility, and tons of programming for both children and adults. They will be joining us on the plaza to celebrate National Poetry month and Jazz Appreciation Day. I can’t wait to take my kids!

Where do you always take out-of-towners?
We love to take out-of-towners on a walk through the Bogardus Plaza to Duane Park and then walk up Staple Street to the Harrison for dinner.

What’s your favorite part of the area (street, park, whatever)?
My favorite part of Tribeca is, of course, the Bogardus Garden and Plaza. When the weather is nice, it’s wonderful to see flowers and shrubs blooming in the garden and so many people sitting at the tables in the plaza. The plaza in particular brings New Yorkers together. It’s not uncommon to see students, mommies, nannies, construction workers, office workers, and tourists all enjoying a peaceful moment in the heart of Manhattan.

Which neighborhood building do you wish you lived in and/or owned?
I love the Gerken Building, where I live, but I occasionally pine for a quieter corner, especially now, during the Chambers Street reconstruction project. The building that I secretly covet is 166 Duane. It’s on Duane Park, it’s still close to transportation, and best of all, it has a doorman.

Your most memorable celebrity sighting?
It’s fun to tell friends that we often have dinner at the same time as Jon Stewart on Sunday nights. And I was once at a birthday party for Christy Turlington’s son. She is totally down to earth and normal, but I really wanted to look pretty for the party. Why I thought that I could look good at 40 weeks pregnant at a party hosted by a supermodel is a question that I still ask myself. Anyway, I blew out my hair and put on a cute maternity outfit and makeup. I showed up to find a room full of parents in jeans and “I just rolled out of bed” hair. I stuck out, to say the least. The most exciting moment was when Gwyneth Paltrow breezed in with her kids and my daughter ended up seated next to Apple and even fed her pizza.

Any questions you wish you’d been asked?
I wish that there were more restaurants that had big healthy delicious salads in a nice setting for lunch. I miss Josie’s from the Upper West Side. I also would love to see an upscale kitchen-supply store. I cook a lot and often wish that there was something in the ‘hood that was more unique than Bed Bath & Beyond. Oh well, you can’t have everything—and we sure come close.

Recent TCQ&As:
• Deborah Lupard: “When I Moved to Tribeca, the Odeon was an Automat”
• Alycea Ungaro: “I Want Bouley Bakery Back”
• Marla Mase: “I Can Be Naughty at Times So Let’s Skip That Question”
• Elisa Casas: “Jenny McCarthy Had Phone Sex in My Bed”

Monday
Jim Connors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is giving the CB1 WTC Redevelopment Committee an update on logistics.

Tuesday
Writers Arthur Phillips and Whitney Terrell read at the Pen Parentis literary salon. ••• Colin Hay plays City Winery (also Wednesday and Friday).

Wednesday
Shirley MacLaine appears at Barnes & Noble to read from her new book, I’m Over All That! ••• The CB1 Tribeca Committee, where I’ll spend much of the time debating where to drink afterward. ••• Church Street School for Music and Art’s dance party at Santos Party House. Someone turned me on to host Andrew W.K.’s Twitter feed, which is pretty wonderful.

Thursday
Poets House commemorates Poem in Your Pocket Day by handing out poems at various spots. I’m hoping to participate. ••• Flashdance at 92YTribeca.  ••• Shelby Lynne plays City Winery; I’ll be there. Her “I Am Shelby Lynne” album is so good. Hey,  maybe she should cover “Maniac!” Imagine it slow and bluesy: I’m just a steel town girl on a Saturday night, looking for the fight of my life….

Friday
Strait-Jacket at 92YTribeca: “Joan Crawford stars as Lucy, a wife who takes an axe to the heads of her husband and his lover after catching them together. Twenty years later, just out of the asylum, she reunites with her daughter Carol (Diane Baker). Carol encourages her mother to spruce up her appearance with a flattering dress and some very clunky bracelets, but becomes concerned with her mother’s odd reaction to her fiancé.” It’s followed by 1987′s The Stepfather.

Saturday
Earth Day at the Visionaire: “Indulge in eco-friendly treats, hands-on activities, take-home gifts and more. Tours of green operating systems (microturbine, air filtration, solar photovoltaic panels, etc.) throughout the building and speakers sharing everyday living tips will be featured too!” Well, it’s not Andrew W.K.’s idea of a party…. ••• For kids: “Room on the Broom” at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. ••• At 92YTribeca: Hollywood Shuffle and a Cry-Baby sing-along.

Sunday
Today’s the day for locals to buy single-screening tickets (a day before non-locals) to the Tribeca Film Festival. ••• An afternoon of jazz (from the Alan Levin Trio) and poetry at Bogardus Plaza.

As for ongoing events, you might consider…
Two exhibits of photography by Ed Kashi (“Aging in America” and “Madagascar”) are at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery. I’m assuming this one is from “Aging in America,” unless Madagascar is not at all what I thought.

Monday New York Academy of Art’s annual Tribeca Ball promises excellent people-watching on Franklin Street (or inside if you bought a ticket). ••• Nili Lotan’s sample sale is today and tomorrow, noon to 7 p.m. Spring merch up to 75% off.

Tuesday Soho Photo celebrates the opening of its 40th-anniversary exhibit (there’s a video below about the group’s beginnings). ••• Writer Anne Lamott is at Barnes & Noble Tribeca.

Wednesday Jhumpa Lahiri joins other writers for a Poets House talk about Portuguese port Alberto de Lacerda. There’s an exhibit, too: “On display are the fruits of his friendships with world-renowned writers and artists: letters to de Lacerda, inscribed books, handwritten poems and other gifts from the likes of John Ashbery, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Marianne Moore, Octavio Paz and Anne Sexton, among many others. At the opening reception, fellow writers and friends gather to remember this charismatic figure.” ••• Meanwhile, at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, there’s a panel called “Tales from Iraq” with Jessica Jiji (Sweet Dates in Basra) and Ariel Sabar (My Father’s Paradise), winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. ••• At Alycea Ungaro’s Real Pilates, nutritionist (and TC contributor) Amy Shapiro talks about navigating the grocery store. ••• Fritz Lang’s 1944 Ministry of Fear, with Ray Milland, screens at 92YTribeca. It’s not on DVD, so go see it. ••• Squeeze frontman Glenn Tilbrook plays City Winery.

Thursday Nili Lotan’s sample sale is today and tomorrow, noon to 7 p.m. Spring merch up to 75% off. CORRECTION: It’s Monday and Tuesday.  ••• The By Robert James shop inside John Allan’s Tribeca salon opens. ••• WFC restaurant showcase. Related: The Ed’s Lobster Bar cart debuts, too. ••• Locanda Verde’s Andrew Carmellini, whose new Soho restaurant the Dutch is opening soon, talks at 92YTribeca. ••• Carlton Scott Sturgill’s show at Pelavin Gallery opens. It’s racy! ••• A documentary about Anna May Wong plays the Museum of Chinese in America. ••• Two fabulous-sounding films from the 1940s, The Suspect and Phantom Lady, play at 92YTribeca. ••• Tyrese Gibson is at Barnes & Noble Tribeca. ••• Duane Park restaurant’s weekly sexymagic show debuts.

Friday 92YTribeca’s Giorgio Moroder film festival launches with Paul Schrader’s Cat People —remember the David Bowie song?—and a concert by Mobroder.

Saturday The Downtown Little League Opening Day Parade. ••• South Street Oyster Saloon: A benefit for New Amsterdam Market.

Sunday Shine and the Moonbeams (which features John Heagle of Les Sans Culottes) plays for kids at 92YTribeca.

As for ongoing events, you might consider… Emily Roysdon’s “Positions” show at Art in General is her first solo exhibit in New York: “Positions presents a series of three works that are defined by a short-term and improvisational working method with a focus on developing and articulating a vocabulary of movement while applying gesture to shifting concepts of site. Created specifically for her exhibition at Art in General, Roysdon produced three large silkscreened rectangular panels that lean—using the room as armature and exploring the weight of an image. Positions, for which the exhibition is titled, explores the intersection between figure and ground, the logic of the grid, and the repetition and accumulation of ungrounded figures.”

••• “Since 20-year-old Poets House moved to 10 River Terrace in Battery Park City from Soho a year and a half ago, attendance at the nonprofit poetry center has more than doubled, reaching 40,000 in the fiscal year that ended June 30.” (Crain’s—no link because I can’t get one without a subscription)

••• My friend who complains that Lower Manhattan has more than its share of death-related memorials will not be heartened at this news: “The nonprofit Anne Frank Center USA, a partner of the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam, offers educational programs about the Holocaust and the history of World War II. The group is poised to sign a lease [for 2,500 square feet of ground-floor space in] 100 Church St., sources involved in the negotiations confirmed. [...] The museum, which currently rents loft space at 38 Crosby St. in SoHo, took out ads last year seeking a larger home in order to re-create the “secret annex” where the doomed Jewish teen wrote her famous diary while hiding from the Nazis with her family in Amsterdam between 1942 and 1944.” Naturally, the Post made the bigger point that it’s near Park51.

••• Broadsheet Daily recaps the issue of too many tour buses headed our way.

••• “The [Fulton Street] transit center is more than 50 percent done, and as for the specifics: steel is going up now, following the installation of Broadway’s 100-foot tower crane, and should be all done by the end of the year.” (Curbed)

••• “TF Cornerstone signed a 15-year lease to bring Potbelly Sandwich Shop, a Chicago culinary institution, to 2 Gold Street in the Financial District, the chain restaurant’s first New York location. Potbelly’s snapped up the last available retail space in the building, joining Pret-A-Manger, Goodburger, and Hot Clay Oven.” (The Real Deal, via Grub Street)

••• “Ed McFarland isn’t quite ready to open Caravelli’s, but when his kiosk in the World Financial Center debuts for the season on April 7, he’ll be offering something new: a lobster burger. The $15 sandwich is already served at Ed’s Lobster Bar on Lafayette Street, and McFarland describes it as “cooked lobster meat that is ground, it is mixed with a little clarified butter, salt, pepper, and chive. It is grilled and served on a sesame bun with spicy mayo, lettuce, tomato, and red onion.” The grilled yellowfin tuna sandwich and chilled seafood salad are other kiosk additions. Full menu here.” (Grub Street) The $25 deal for a lobster roll and a soda seems a bit rich given the lobster glut, no?

••• “This spring, the Battery Conservancy is launching its first-ever Urban Farm at the Battery, an enormous community garden that will stretch across 1 acre of the Great Lawn. [...] In a playful nod to Zelda the turkey, the park’s most famous resident, the farm will be shaped like a bird. Designer Scott Dougan crafted a bamboo fence to enclose the farm, which will trace out the contours of the beloved turkey, from beak to tail feathers.” (DNAinfo)

••• “The large wooden desk used by e.e. cummings has been installed at Poets House.” (DNAinfo)